Because we decided that the City Council decision to repay wasn’t legal, Ford didn’t contravene the MCIA (though he kinda did).

[46] However, the matter before Council changed when thereafter a motion was made to rescind Decision CC 52.1. From that point, Mr. Ford clearly had a pecuniary interest in the matter before Council, as he would be relieved of the reimbursement obligation if the motion passed. Therefore, the application judge correctly found that Mr. Ford had a direct pecuniary interest when he voted on that motion, and s. 5(1) of the MCIA was engaged.

[47] Nevertheless, as set out in the following section of these reasons, it is our view that Mr. Ford did not contravene s. 5(1), because the financial sanction imposed by Decision CC 52.1 was not authorized by theCOTA or the Code. In other words, it was a nullity.

…

[89] While he [Rob Ford] may have honestly believed his interpretation was correct, it would undermine the purposes of the MCIA if a subjective belief about the meaning and application of the law was sufficient to excuse a contravention of s. 5(1). When an individual seeks to rely on an error of law, good faith requires that he or she make some inquiry about the meaning and application of the law, rather than rely on his or her own interpretation. Wilful blindness to one’s legal obligations cannot be a good faith error in judgment within the meaning of s. 10(2).

…

[96] In light of our conclusion that Decision CC 52.1 was a nullity because of the nature of the financial sanction it imposed, the appellant has not contravened s. 5(1) of the MCIA. Therefore, the appeal is allowed, the judgment of the application judge is set aside and the application under the MCIA is dismissed.

2 Comments
on “
The Ford appeal in 21 words
”

mandl
January 25th, 2013
9:30 pm

Hi, its me again, remember?

mandl
September 4th, 2012 12:06 pm
You are so ANGRY Patrick! I mean just look at that rant you went on! I bet you didn’t pause once didn’t you? Would love to stay and argue but I got work to do. I’ll be back though once Ford is cleared to rub it in your face a bit :-)

I was going to rub it in really really good but seeing as how this is probably the worst day of your life I’ll just let it go.